Chapter Eleven:

Arguments

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He looks at her and sees the concern and need in her eyes.

She wants him to confess everything.

But was he willing?

Of course not.

She closes the door behind herself in a slow manner as she crept up towards his desk.

"There's nothing to be said," Astro began.

Zoran looked at him in confusion, but shook her head and responded, "You're wrong– you've been wrong this whole time!"

"And you come to that conclusion through…?"

"… What I've seen… It's not that difficult to tell something's wrong."

Astro sighed, resting his elbow on the table, "Zoran… I think you're the most annoying person I know."

"I–I just wanna help! We need to get to the bottom of this!"

"No, we don't!"

"Wel– what could you be hiding?! Why won't you just conf–"

"IT'S NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS!"

Zoran took a step back in fear, tears pooling in her eyes as she could vaguely see Astro swivel his chair so as to not face her anymore.

"You… you make things so difficult…" she mumbled through quivering lips.

He didn't respond.

At that point, she lost all need to try and fix the situation; she quickly walked away and left the room, leaving Astro all by himself.

Just what he wanted.

Silence, and solitude.

Uran had walked out of her room in confusion, she saw Zoran angrily stomp down the stairs and make her way to the living room.

"Zoran?" She tried to catch up with her.

"Zoran? Zoran what's wrong?"

"Go away, Uran," She folded her arms and almost sunk into the couch.

"B–But, something's going on– I just wanna kno–"

"I SAID GO AWAY!"

"HEY! WHAT'S WITH THE YELLING?!"

The two girls could hear Elefun from where they were, clearly indicating he was not in a good mood.

"YOU TWO NEED TO BE QUIET AND BEHAVE YOURSELVES– YOU HEAR ME?!"

"B –but Professor! S–something's wrong!" Uran replied.

Elefun sighed, walking out of his room and down the stairs.

"What's wrong? Everything seems to be fine here…" He looked around.

"No… Zoran," She pointed.

"Uran!"

"HEY!"

Zoran froze.

"I am sick and tired of looking after the three of you– I can't catch a break!"

The two sisters didn't respond.

Elefun sighed again, "You with the complaining and you with the sulking… and Astro… He… I don't even know what his deal is, dear lord…"

"Well, you should do something about that!" Uran finally mustered the courage to look at him.

"No, I'm going to bed– and you should too! It's getting pretty late… almost 8…" The Professor walked away back upstairs to his room.

There was a moment of silence before Uran looked over at Zoran again.

"I'm… sorry, Z–Zoran– I shouldn't have been so demanding…"

"It's… fine…" She sighed.

"You know… if there's something going on between you and Astro… you should talk about it…"

"But that's the thing! He… wont!"

"Oh… is that the problem?"

Zoran looked over at her as if to insinuate that she was being a bit palpable with her question.

"Well, if it is– I think it'd be best to just leave him be for now– he can be really mean when he's angry…"

"And how do you know?"

"Oh… well… I've just… seen things…"

"Like…?"

Uran took a moment to pause to think of what to say, then decided to lower her voice to a whisper.

"Well, he… and The Professor? They haven't gotten along in ages!"

"Oh really?"

"Mmmmhmmm– Like when he was looking for you! They got into a lot of arguments– I guess he didn't want Astro to get involved– but he does in fact have free will, so I think it wouldn't have mattered what The Professor said– he was sold on continuing."

"Huh, interesting…"

"It's actually kinda sad… I don't like seeing them argue– especially with how angry they both get– it's nonsense!"

"Well, I think it just means something's going on."

"Hmmm, well whatever it is, I hope the damage being done is worth it, because he's really pushing buttons…"

Zoran sighed, shifting in her seat as she looked up at the ceiling.

"Hey… we should probably go to bed, you gonna stay down here?" Uran asked.

"Oh– uh– maybe?"

"You sure? You know… I have room by the windowsill– you get to see the moonlight!"

She thought to herself for a moment, "Umm… I… I think I'll take you up on that offer."

Uran suddenly looked at her with giddy, "Well then come on! Bring your blanket too…"

"So, you wanna knock this wall down?"

"Yes yes! Knock this down, and then make a small hallway and a room to your left."

"Hmmmm, I dunno, Doctor– maybe we could just put a door there and build the room that way."

"Oh no no– the hallway will make everything look nicer– trust me I've done the math."

"Well, in that case, I'll have to go outside and do some measurements so if you'll um – excuse me! Haha…"

The next day, a contractor had come over to survey Elefun's house to see if it was fit to add another room, obviously meant for Zoran.

A debate had stirred up over whether it was feasible– but Elefun was willing to cooperate, even if it meant paying more out of pocket.

"So, I looked outside, and it looks like it could fit– maybe a little tight, but if it's what you want, then a 7x10 square foot room is looking to run you about $9,800… so about $140 per square foot."

"And there's no way to make it cheaper…?"

"Well, I can try and negotiate, but I don't think it's likely."

"Hmmmmm… Well, I really need this room so… It's a deal!" Elefun held his hand out.

"Great! I'll write up all the necessary papers, call the guys up, and they should be here any day soon," the contractor gladly shook Elefun's hand.

"Of course! And thank you so much for coming."

Astro came downstairs long after both the Professor and contractor left, he saw Zoran sitting at the table, pawning at the food on her plate.

"Hey," He sat down across from her.

"Hey," She continued staring at her plate.

"So, umm… last night–"

"You were a jerk."

"E–Excuse–"

"I SAID WHAT I SAID!" She finally looked up at him in fury.

Astro paused, leaning back in his seat and running his fingers along the edge of the table.

"I know…" He finally replied.

Zoran seemed confused, enthralled in even more rage as she tried to understand.

"You know, you really need to chill out–"

"I CAN'T!"

"Then what are you gonna do? Hmmm? Tell me! Because right now you are really getting on my very last nerve!"

"BECAUSE I HATE YOU!"

"WELL I HATE YOU TOO, AND YOU CAN TAKE THAT SHIT STRAIGHT TO YOUR NONEXISTANT COFFIN!"

"WELL AT LEAST I'LL HAVE SOMETHING TO TAKE!"

Astro paused, slowly getting up from his chair.

"You… you don't know what you're talking about…"

"Then go ahead– educate me, I deserve to know…"

"No… no you don't…" He walked away from the table to head upstairs

She saw him walk away as tears pooled in her eyes.

"Ah… What? I…"

Zoran looked back down at her plate.

"You know what? I'm tired," She got up from the table and headed for the door.

Astro almost made it to his room, but as soon has he heard the sound of a doorknob, he quickly turned around and race back downstairs.

"ZORAN! STOP RUNNING OFF!"

"ASTRO! LET ME GO!" She called out to him.

He continued to chase after her around the neighborhood

"I… I can't… I can't do this…" she cried in hysteria, falling to her knees.

"I… I just wanna go back…"

Astro finally caught up to her, "Zoran!"

"Leave. Me. ALONE!"

"Zoran… you give me the biggest headache, you know?"

"Oh thanks, hope you like it."

He sighed.

"We… we need to talk about this, okay? It's starting to become a problem…"

"I don't see a problem…"

"And that's just it– I think I know what might be going on…"

"Oh, like I'd believe you– after all of this?!"

"Trust me, I understand…"

"Not even in the slightest!" She stood up.

"But if you're so adamant on brining me home– I guess I'll manage."

"Listen, I'll talk about it to The Professor, see what he says."

Zoran sighed, "Hope he calls you out again," She hastily walked away from him and headed towards home.

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